


Will the Fever Break or Will I Burn from Within?

by terramous



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [11]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Fever, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Whump, for the soul, lots of doting, sepsis, septic shock, theres a little fluff, tk is an idiot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:27:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28227633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terramous/pseuds/terramous
Summary: “Go to bed.” Owen pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “I’ll check on you when I get home, okay?”He didn’t have to be told twice. He was eager to sleep it off.“Whatever you do, don’t die while I’m gone,” Owen chirped from the hallway.TK just mumbled incoherently into his mattress.💛TK takes naps but they get progressively more concerning
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1775494
Comments: 13
Kudos: 230
Collections: 9-1-1 Lone Star ▶ Carlos Reyes / Tyler Kennedy "TK" Strand





	Will the Fever Break or Will I Burn from Within?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dazedastrophile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dazedastrophile/gifts).



> for [the actual sun](https://sunshinestrand.tumblr.com), who brings warmth and light everywhere she goes <3 this is a very late birthday present but i hope it was worth the wait!!
> 
> for the shaking and shivering square of the bad things happen bingo
> 
> also i tried to format this but it did really work so i gave up

_zero._

"I'm so glad to be home," TK sighed, leaning against the door as it fell shut behind him.

Owen nodded, rolling his shoulders to ease the tension of what seemed like a never-ending shift. "Tell me about it, I'm exhausted."

TK's eyebrows knit together as he gave his father a once over. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, kid. Just tired from a long shift. You don't have to worry."

It took more than that to convince TK. If he was good at anything, it was worrying about his dad. "I still think you should consider taking some time off." 

"Who would keep an eye on you if I did that?"

"Literally everyone,” TK sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I think Judd is one incident away from watching me shower." 

"Speaking of incidents, did Michelle check you over after that last call?"

"She sure did. Judd dragged me the whole way there and 'Chelle checked my head and everything."

TK wasn’t exactly known for his ability to remain unharmed so when there was a huge pileup on the highway in the pouring rain, he certainly slipped and fell a few times. At one point his face and the hood of a car had a rather rushed meeting that left TK with a few stars in his vision. Judd had straightened him up and given him more than a once-over with the chastising gaze of a worried older brother, trying to figure out if TK had managed to find himself seriously injured yet again. 

And after forcing TK to get looked at by Michelle who wasn’t all that thrilled to have the young Strand in the back of her ambulance once again, the verdict was that TK would live. In fact, he didn’t even have a concussion. The team tended to worry a little too much when it came to their resident danger-magnet but he certainly had given them reason to. 

"Good. I'll rest easier knowing you've been checked out."

“Go to bed, dad.”

Owen gave TK a firm pat on his shoulder before kicking off his shoes and walking further into the house. He paused at the foot of the stairs that led up to their bedrooms. “Make sure you get some sleep too. It’s been a long shift.”

“Yeah, I’m just gonna shower first.”

“You didn’t shower at the firehouse?”

TK shrugged. “Paul was hellbent on making sure I ate something before I left.”

“He’s good like that.”

“He really is the best, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a good cook either.”

“That is true,” Owen chuckled lightly before changing the subject, “Try not to use too much hot water and go to bed soon, okay? I’m wiped and I imagine you are too.”

“I’ll try. Goodnight, dad.”

Owen smiled fondly at his son. “Goodnight, TK.”

The moment TK entered the bathroom, he wasted no time getting undressed and standing under the hot stream of water. The initial bite of the heat against his skin before he adjusted to the temperature did wonders to pull him out of his head for a minute. 

TK was content to just stand under the spray of the shower and let the warm water break the tension of his muscles and ease the bone-deep ache left from a 24-hour shift gone overtime. That was until he noticed the threatening rose tint of the water as it circled the drain. That pulled him from his sleep-deprived haze. 

Blood. He was bleeding. He hadn’t been hurt on shift though. Had he?

As it turns out, shock was one hell of a drug. TK certainly couldn’t pinpoint when he had sustained it aside from the fact that it had likely happened amidst the chaos of the last call, but there was a long yet shallow gash that cradled the bottom of his ribcage. The shower had, no doubt, reopened the wound as the water running down his body shifted from the dull maroon to the vibrant red of a still-bleeding wound.

Well that wasn’t good. But it was fine, he could deal with this. 

He stepped out of the shower but left it running as to not alert his father to what he was doing. TK had always been a fan of long showers where he could just think and didn’t have to worry about anything other than the steady thrum of dozens of water droplets against his skin. Owen used to complain about TK wasting the hot water but now just made sure that he either showered before TK or at the firehouse. 

With a towel draped around his waist, the white fabric hungrily soaking up the red that dripped onto it, TK thanked Owen’s foresight to have a first aid kit in the house, especially the decision to keep it under the bathroom sink. 

So with gauze and his hair still dripping, TK cleaned and dressed the wound. It wasn’t deep and barely hurt but he would keep an eye on it, but for now he just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for a week.

Owen was already in bed by the time TK turned off the water and snuck out of the bathroom, quite evidently bloody towel in hand, and tossed that in the washing machine. To make it seem less weird, he even slipped into his father’s room, careful not to let too much of the light from the hallway into the dark space as he felt around for where he knew the hamper was.

“What’re you doing?” Owen mumbled sleepily, clearly having already dozed off and TK couldn’t wait to do the same.

“Laundry,” TK answered simply. 

“Have I mentioned lately that you’re my favourite son?”

TK rolled his eyes. “I’m your only son.”

“If I had another one you might lose.”

“Gee thanks, dad,” TK tried his hardest to give Owen an irritated tone but he couldn’t help the smile breaking out on his face. It was nice to just bicker, a much-needed dose of lighthearted fun after everything.

“I’m here all week.”

His hand finally landed on the edge of the hamper so he scooped it up into his arms and turned back to the door, but first pausing to look in the direction of the bed. “Go back to sleep.”

“As long as you don’t stay up too late..”

“I won’t. I love you, dad.”

“I love you too, kid.”

_one._

TK woke up the next day to his phone ringing. He was about to tell whoever was calling him to piss off and let him sleep until he saw _“hot cop with the nice ass 🔥”_ on the caller ID.

“Hey,” TK said, very much incoherent in his still half-asleep state.

 _“I didn’t wake you up, did I?”_ Carlos asked, not even sparing a moment to return TK’s greeting. Which was rude, TK felt he deserved a simple ‘hi’ in return for being woken up.

“No.” Yes.

_“I thought we could go out for lunch. Unless you want to go back to sleep. Did you not finish on time last night?”_

“Didn’t get home till just before sunrise,” TK said, rubbing his face with his free hand, hoping to fend off the pull of sleep. “Massive pileup on the highway.”

_“Go back to sleep.”_

“No,” TK threw off his blanket, “I wanna go out with you. I miss you. We haven’t seen each other in so long.”

_“TK, I saw you on a call yesterday.”_

TK sighed. “That doesn’t count.”

_“Well, I’m outside if you want to come with me.”_

Forgoing a reply, TK instead hung up the phone and threw on a change of clothes in a hurry, ignoring how his shirt rubbed against the bandage on his torso. He spared the stark white bandage a look before pulling his shirt over it. He’d deal with it later.

He quickly ran a comb through his hair, eliminating all traces of his bed head before all but running out of the house.

As the door fell shut behind him, TK found himself wrapped in a tight embrace, his face pressed into Carlos’ chest.

“Hey,” Carlos mumbled into his hair. 

TK lifted his head to meet Carlos’ gaze. “Hi.”

What TK didn’t expect was that as he tilted his head towards Carlos, that the officer would duck out of reach. 

“What?”

Carlos shrugged, scrunching up his face and sticking his tongue out in exaggerated disgust. “Morning breath. Go brush your teeth.” 

“I hate you.”

“I’ll give you all the kisses you want when you’re minty fresh,” Carlos said, spinning TK around and gently pushing him back towards the house.

After quickly brushing his teeth, TK reappeared outside and made himself at home in the passenger seat of Carlos' Camaro. The ride to their lunch stop was comfortably silent. It wasn't until they sat down with their food that Carlos made an attempt at conversation.

“So,” Carlos began, handing TK a burrito, “How was the shift last night?”

They’d agreed to visit Carlos’ favourite food truck for their date, the late morning sun and never-ending liveliness of the city bathing them and allowing them to soak in the ambience after the stress of their shifts from the night before.

TK groaned, “Long.”

“They usually are.”

“It was just a lot. A lot of calls, a lot of people we couldn’t save. It was hard.”

“Aw, TK.” Carlos looped an arm around TK’s shoulder and pulled him in closer. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine.” TK quickly wiped away the tears building in his eyes before they had a chance to spill. “I don’t want to spoil our date.”

“You’re never spoiling anything. I’m always here if you need someone to talk to, TK.” 

“I know.” TK picked at the edges of his burrito. “Anyways, we’re always talking about me. What’s going on in the world of Carlos Reyes?”

Carlos took to the subject change, knowing that pushing the emotional talk wouldn’t get very far. “Well, I am up for a promotion at work.”

“Really?” TK’s head shot up in surprise, a smile already forming. “That’s awesome, Carlos! Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“It’s no big deal,” Carlos shrugged. “I like to hear about what’s going on in your life.”

“No big deal? You’re getting a promotion, Carlos! I’m proud of you, you deserve it.”

TK suddenly felt a pang of guilt, an ache blossoming deep in his chest. Here he was, talking about himself when Carlos had such big news to share, and Carlos didn’t tell him until he asked. He was never giving Carlos enough but Carlos didn’t ask for more. He was too polite for his own good and always let TK get caught up in rambling about everything going on in his life, listening carefully and not trying to interrupt him. 

“We won’t see each other on calls as much but the increase in pay would be nice.”

TK raised an eyebrow, bringing up his free hand to smooth down the edge of Carlos’ collar. “I didn’t take you for the materialistic type, Officer Reyes.” 

Carlos leant in closer to TK, a playful smile on his lips. “That could be Detective Reyes to you.”

“Detective Reyes? I like the sound of that.”

“Do you now?”

"Yeah," TK licked his lips, staring deep in the soon-to-be detective's brown eyes. He was so distracted by the obvious tension between them as their faces grew closer, that he didn’t even realize when his burrito began to drip on his shirt.

“TK.”

“Hmm?” TK hummed, not really paying attention, he was still thinking about the misfortune of being in public when he would quite enjoy running his hands all over Carlos.

“You have a little something on your shirt.” 

TK looked down. “Fuck.”

“It’s fine.” Carlos started wiping at the mess with one of the napkins he had been holding, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as TK watched the disaster spread. What a terrible day for a yellow shirt.

“Okay, I love you, but this is just making it worse. I’m gonna duck into the bathroom and clean this up before it stains,” TK said, pressing a chaste kiss to Carlos’ lips.

“Have fun.”

“‘Have fun?’ Really, Carlos?” TK asked. 

“What else should I say, ‘I hope it stains and you have to buy a new shirt’?”

TK rolled his eyes. “You’re an idiot. I’ll be back soon, okay? Don’t miss me too much.”

“I think I’ll live,” Carlos called after TK as he scurried off to the public restroom which was conveniently located across the street from them.

Yet it only took a few minutes of TK standing shirtless in the bathroom trying to scrub the stain out of his shirt under the running tap for him to realise that he was not going to save his shirt. 

“Well that’s not working,” he groaned, giving his reflection an exasperated look as he resigned to his fate.

As he sighed, his gaze caught the gauze pad he had forgotten was wrapped around his side. So if being stuck shirtless in public wasn’t bad enough, he now had a very obvious wound he wanted to remain hidden. 

Speaking of wounds, he hadn’t looked at it since the night before so maybe it was much better off than he thought it was and he’d be able to get it past Carlos without much fuss.

Keyword: maybe. TK wasn’t exactly known for his good luck.

TK hissed as he peeled back the edge of the gauze covering his wound. He’d been hurt enough to know what a healing wound should look like, and that wasn’t it. It was red and angry and now that TK was looking at it when he was more awake, maybe it needed stitches. “That’s not good.”

He was stranded in a public bathroom with a soaked shirt and a wound he really didn’t want Carlos to fuss over. Not ideal, but like the master problem solver he was, TK ducked into one of the empty stalls and pulled his phone out, quickly calling his boyfriend.

_“Are you drowning in the sink?”_

“What? No. The shirt can’t be saved. Do you have a spare in your car?”

_“I think your hoodie is still in the back seat.”_

“You’re a lifesaver.”

_“I thought that was your job.”_

_two._

TK wasn’t sure what he expected when he met his father in the kitchen that morning. As per usual, the captain was making something that was every possible shade of green and made TK wonder, yet again, if his father was secretly a sheep.

Owen looked up from what he was doing when he heard TK enter the kitchen. “Good morning, kiddo. How did you sleep?”

“Hmm?” It took TK’s still half-asleep brain a second to catch up. “Oh, it was good. How about you? Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me, TK.”

TK shrugged. “Can’t help it. Someone’s gotta keep an eye on you.”

“Those are big words coming from you, Strand,” Owen mused, still fixated on his cooking. 

“Yeah, Strand?”

Owen turned on his heel, grabbing a glass of water as he leaned his back against the bench. It took him half a second of looking at TK before his eyes narrowed and he straightened up again, setting his cup down and waving TK over. “You’re looking a little flushed come here.’

TK groans but he walks over to his father anyway, he’d learnt many years ago that it was useless to try and fight it. “Dad, I’m fine.” 

“I’m your dad, it’s my job to worry about you,” Owen said, placing one hand on his son’s shoulder and back of his other on TK’s forehead. “Mmm, you’re pretty warm.”

“I’m fine, I just slept with too many blankets. I woke up feeling like a rotisserie chicken.”

“You might have a fever,” Owen said, his worried dad expression never faltering. “Go sit down and I’ll take your temperature.”

“This seems excessive. I feel fine.”

“Your definition of ‘fine’ is wildly different from mine, kid.”

TK sighed, resigning to his father’s request as he plopped himself down at the dining table. The cool surface of the wood was soothing under his palms and he was tempted to just press his face to the table but that would not help his case. He didn’t even notice his father dip out of the room until he reappeared, thermometer in hand.

Owen brandished the thermometer like a weapon, pointing it threateningly in TK’s direction. “Open up.”

TK gave his dad a look that he hoped conveyed his dismay but still let his father baby him, sticking a thermometer under his tongue and patting down his unruly bedhead. 

“Don’t even think of saying you’re fine. I don’t wanna hear it.”

“Dad, I have work.”

“I’m aware,” Owen said, retrieving the thermometer from TK’s mouth as it beeped and looked at their verdict. “And you have a fever. Go back to bed and I’ll bring you some water when I finish up here.”

“But we have shift in like an hour-”

Owen cut him off with a dismissive wave. “I can get someone to cover you. Just rest up today and we’ll see how you’re doing tomorrow, okay?”

“I’m fine, it’s just a mild fever.”

“And knowing you, you’ll end up stuck in a burning building with said fever. I’m not risking it.”

TK groaned but he knew arguing was a lost cause. He hated it when his dad was right, however, it still felt stupid to have to stay home for pretty much nothing.

“Go to bed.” Owen pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “I’ll check on you when I get home, okay?”

He didn’t have to be told twice. He was eager to sleep it off.

“Whatever you do, don’t die while I’m gone,” Owen chirped from the hallway.

TK just mumbled incoherently into his mattress. 

The next time TK stirred it was to another figure dipping the mattress beside him and someone wiping his brow with a damp cloth.

"Dad?" he asked, not even bothering to open his eyes. The cloth felt nice against his hot skin so he wasn't about to protest.

"Hey, kiddo. How're you feeling?"

"I thought you were gonna go to work,” TK mumbled into his pillow.

"Kid, that was eight hours ago. Have you really been sleeping this whole time?" 

Eight hours of sleep and TK was still exhausted. Fun. "Guess so."

“Are you feeling any better?”

TK paused for a moment to do a mental once-over. Everything ached and he was drenched in sweat. It was less than ideal. “I’m achy and gross.”

Owen hissed in sympathy, giving TK’s shoulder a pat. “Do you feel up to eating anything?”

Just the thought of food made TK nauseous. “Not really.”

“Okay, that’s alright. But I do still have to take your temperature.”

TK groaned. “Are you finding an excuse to take me to the ER?”

“Only if it’s high enough. In my defense, you are incredibly prone to visiting the emergency room.” 

TK rolled over onto his back and lay there while they waited for the beep. He really wasn’t in the mood to go to the hospital, all he wanted was to go back to sleep.

“It’s a little higher but still in the safe range.” TK looked up at Owen, a little surprised, he hadn’t even heard the beep. 

“Does that mean I can go back to sleep?” 

“Finish this glass of water and you have yourself a deal.”

_three._

“Hey, kid- why are you on the floor?” Owen asked as he entered TK’s bedroom. TK looked up as best he could without lifting his head from his position with his cheek pressed against the floor. So he could only see his dad’s shoes a few feet from his head.

“Hardwood. Cold. Feels good,” TK explained plainly, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, his voice muffled by the floorboards. 

At this point it wasn’t hard to tell that he truly felt the effects of his fever. His entire body ached and his skin was on fire. The cold floor would have to suffice to alleviate some of his suffering as every time he had flipped his pillow over, it seemed hotter than the last side.

So the fever that was nothing to worry about yesterday really was not working out in his favour today.

“Alright, up we get,” Owen said, sliding his arms under TK’s arms hoisting up his son who kind of sagged bonelessly in his grip. Like a wet towel, if wet towels were drenched in sweat and weighed the same as a grown man. 

Clumsily regaining his footing, TK helped push himself the rest of the way back into bed. 

“Do you want to take a shower, maybe?”

“I’m not getting up,” TK mumbled into the mattress, not even bothering to lift his head.

Owen clearly wasn’t going to force him to do anything, but he wasn’t going to leave TK alone anytime soon either. “Can I at least take your temperature?”

“Do you have to?” 

“TK, you were on the floor.”

“And I explained why, it’s hardly a reason for concern.”

Owen clicked his tongue, TK could almost see him crossing his arms and giving him only the most exasperated of dad looks. “I would feel better knowing if you’re just being dramatic or if your fever is dangerously high.”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope.”

And even after confirming that TK’s fever was still only mild, Owen wasn’t done making a fuss.

“Then do you want to watch something? We could watch Toy Story, you’ve always loved that movie.”

TK sighed, “dad.”

“Yeah?”

“I haven’t watched Toy Story since I was, like, seven.”

“Oh…” There it was. The little things that remind them both of Owen leaving when TK was a kid, the wedge it had driven between them when TK didn’t have a dad and Owen’s son wasn’t the little boy he had left all those years ago, swept up in a whirlwind of tragedy that neither of them would ever truly be able to move beyond. But still they tried. Owen quickly slapped on a smile to diffuse the atmosphere. “All the more reason to watch it now!” 

“I’m an adult, I don’t watch kids’ movies.”

Owen didn’t buy that for a second, he didn’t even pretend to think it over to indulge TK. “Yeah, you do. Scoot over.”

“Aren’t you worried I’m gonna get you sick?” TK asked in a small voice. Despite everything, he was always going to worry about his father the most, more than he cared for his own wellbeing. He couldn’t lose his dad, he wouldn’t make it through that.

His dad didn’t take the bait, he just shrugged as if it were nothing. “You have a fever and no other symptoms, it’s probably stress. Or exhaustion. I’m not worried.”

TK just rolled his eyes, but obeyed and wriggled until he was further across the bed so that Owen could fit next to him. He’d never admit it, but he appreciated the company. If he was going to spend another day in bed by himself, feeling like he was decomposing, he at least wanted something to do. 

He’d also never admit to moving closer to Owen after he settled on top of the blankets because he craved affection. He would never do such a thing. 

Owen set TK’s laptop heavily in his lap before turning to his son. “What’s your password?”

“There’s no password.”

“Should I be concerned about opening this?”

TK playfully shoved his dad’s leg. “Shut up.”

True to his word, there was nothing to be concerned about. In fact, the browser was open to multiple streaming sites, making Owen’s job all that much easier. 

Not that it really mattered, TK didn’t think he made it past the opening scene before he fell back asleep.

_four._

TK woke up to an empty house and a note on his nightstand with a messily scrawled “had to sort some stuff out at the station, won’t be gone long.”

On one hand, TK was relieved that his father wasn’t hovering over him for the time being. On the other, his mouth was incredibly dry and he didn’t want to get out of bed. 

But he would have to fend for himself for the morning (afternoon? TK had given up on time at this point). Which wasn’t a big deal, he could just roll over and go back to sleep until his dad got home. 

His plan was ruined when he rolled, fully prepared to bury his face in the pillow for the foreseeable future, and his side lit up like fireworks. It hurt, badly. It was like waking up the first morning at home after being shot and his painkillers had worn off, bringing tears to his eyes.

And then he remembered the gash on his side. The one he hadn’t changed the dressing on since just before bed at least two or three days ago. Which screamed bad news and also told him that he should probably call his dad about his fever. 

He’d spent too much time feeling like a rotting corpse the past two days to think about why he felt like he was decomposing. And all the signs pointed to an infection. 

A clumsy, half-asleep race to the bathroom where he managed to peel away the edge of the gauze to reveal what he already knew. Swollen, red, angry, oozing pus. This was bad. Like, next-level bad.

With trembling hands he couldn’t seem to steady, TK removed the dressing and tried to clean it. The pain and dizziness made such a feat impossible as TK found himself clinging to the counter with a white-knuckle grip as he tried to blink the stars from his eyes. So a new pad of gauze and hoping for the best was all TK could do. 

TK had the packet of Tylenol in his hand when he remembered that taking his temperature is probably a good idea before he adjusts the temperature of his mouth. 

And the beep of the thermometer under his tongue did absolutely nothing to quell his anxiety.

In fact, it only made it worse.

_103.8 degrees._

Yeah, no, definitely doesn’t put his mind at ease.

All he could do was pop a few Tylenol and consider calling 9-1-1. Which is what a rational person would do, so TK wasn’t going to do that. It would only be an hour or two until Owen got home and he really didn’t deserve to be interrupted at work by TK needing an ambulance ride. Which were unfortunately very expensive and there was a limit to what medical bills the department would be able to cover. 

After all, he’d survived for two days, he could manage a few more hours. Right?

If things couldn’t get worse, the doorbell rang. 

TK hoped if he just stayed quiet and continued his crisis in the bathroom, that the mailman, or whoever, would give up and leave.

But the doorbell rang a second time.

And a third.

Then there was knocking. 

And TK heard his phone chime in the bedroom.

“TK?”

Carlos really needed to stop showing up unannounced. 

So, with as much composure as TK could muster, he wandered to the other end of the house where Carlos was patiently waiting outside the front door.

“I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“Nope,” TK said plainly, popping the p. “I was in the bathroom.” Which wasn’t even a lie. TK was doing pretty well in the truth-telling department, until he ducked away from Carlos as his boyfriend moved to hug him.

“Don’t want to give you whatever bug I have.” Now, that was a lie. In reality, he knew he looked like death and if Carlos felt how hot his skin was, TK would definitely find himself on the other end of Michelle’s disapproving gaze.

“I don’t mind, but okay. You look pretty bad.”

“Rude.”

Carlos didn’t take the bait, his eyebrows drawn together in worry and his lips pressed into a tight line. “I mean it, maybe you should sit down.” 

TK eyed his boyfriend with a cool precision. “My dad put you up to this, didn’t he?”

“No.”

TK gave Carlos a look that had his feeble attempt at lies crumbling. 

“Yes.”

“I knew it. You can go home, I’m fine.” As it turns out, telling fibs makes you shiver. At least that’s what seemed to happen. 

“TK,” Carlos started, his tone dripping with worry.

“Carlos…”

“It’s been a few days and your fever hasn’t broken, are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, Carlos. If it doesn’t break tonight dad is going to drag me to the doctor.”

“I don’t know… I could always give you a ride to the ER.”

“Babe, it’s been a low-grade fever for two days, there’s nothing to worry about yet. Trust me, dad’s been watching me like a hawk, if there was anything to be concerned about he’d make me see a doctor.” Honestly, at this point TK deserved an Oscar for his acting skills. On the inside he knew he’d have to come clean to his dad the second Owen got home. This was serious, TK couldn’t ignore it and hope that the problem would go away. 

“Still… shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“I’ve done nothing but sleep for the past two days, let me sit on the couch in peace.”

But TK’s anxiety wouldn’t settle even when they were sitting on the couch, Carlos looked at him like he was about to collapse at a moment’s notice and TK couldn’t blame him, he felt like it too.

TK turned to Carlos, fully prepared to ignore whatever answer he received. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“No,” Carlos waved him off, “I’m fine.”

“I’ll get you some water.”

“TK, I said I’m fine.”

“And I’m not letting you treat me like I can’t do anything. You saw how I was during the solar flare, what I could do with a bullet wound in my shoulder, I can handle a low fever,” TK grumbled as he stood up and crossed the floor to the kitchen. He didn’t need to be babied.

“Is it so bad for me to want you to take it easy?”

TK fought the urge to snap at Carlos as he retrieved a glass from the cupboard. He didn’t want to fight with Carlos, he hated it when they argued. “I’m not a child, I can do things for myself.”

“I never said you couldn’t.”

“You heavily implied it,” TK hissed as he filled the glass, locking his gaze on the stream of water. He tried to ignore the way his hands shook, did he ever stop shaking? Lasting until Owen got home without Carlos catching on to how bad TK was feeling was looking more and more impossible by the second. 

“Water,” TK announced as he turned back towards Carlos, raising the glass a little, still trying to ignore his trembling. 

He almost dropped the cup when his vision turned to static, a TV channel set to a dead channel. It was brief but disorienting, TK how had a hand on the bench and the drink in a vice-grip as he willed his vision to return to normal.

"Are you sure you don't want to sit down? You don't look so good."

TK blinked a little, forcing the dark spots out of his field of vision as he gave Carlos a smile. "That's rude, I'll have you know that I'm actually very good looking-"

He didn't get to finish teasing Carlos as a wave of dizziness struck him. He staggered a little, blinking furiously in the hope to clear his vision. That was more than enough to scare Carlos as TK heard the telltale scrape of chair legs against linoleum. 

“TK, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Carlos sounded very far away, as if a wall separated them instead of a few metres of air. 

His answer stayed heavy on his tongue, the white lie of ‘I’m fine’ never passing his lips as the weight was stripped from his bones. He was floating and then there was nothing.

_thirteen._

TK knew where he was without even opening his eyes. The smell of cleaning products that clung to everything and gross coffee, the sound of never-ending activity in the distance, the squeaking of shoes on the floor and low jumbled conversation all added up to one place: the hospital

“I know you’ll wake up when you’re ready, I just hope you’re resting easy.”

Carlos. Carlos? 

That brought TK’s awareness to the weight in his right hand, the feeling of fingers entwined with his. 

The light sent pain shooting through TK’s head as he opened his eyes but he was determined to keep them open. Because Carlos was right there, but he didn’t look right. 

With his curls in disarray and a general dishevelled look to him, Carlos fiddled with TK’s fingers, not looking up. 

“Sorry,” he muttered, his voice thick with emotion as TK felt a warm drop hit his hand. His heart ached to see Carlos cry, the sight never got easier and all TK wanted to do was scoop his boyfriend up into his arms and press kisses to his forehead until Carlos felt better.

“I forgive you,” TK said, wincing a little at the hoarseness of his voice and how raw his throat felt. 

Carlos’ head snapped up, his eyes shining with tears and his cheeks marked with the dried tracks that indicated he’d definitely been crying earlier. It made TK’s stomach churn to think that he was the reason for even a single tear Carlos shed.

“TK,” he said, stunned and breathless, completely frozen, “you’re awake.”

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

“It’s-” Carlos’ words were cut off by a sob he couldn’t hold in anymore. “You’ve been asleep for too long. Please TK, be more careful; I can’t handle another coma.”

TK’s voice came out shrill and ripe with terror. “Coma?”

Carlos hastily wiped his tears, taking a deep shaky breath to steel himself. “You’ve been in a coma for over a week, TK. You almost died.”

“No, that’s insane, I just had a low fever.” TK’s breath was coming a little faster, harder to hold onto as his anxiety emerged. “Stop joking around, Carlos. It’s not funny.” 

“He’s not kidding,” Owen’s voice interjected from behind Carlos, two coffees in hand and looking like he was about to start crying too. “You collapsed and went into septic shock. Nine days comatose in intensive care and no doubt a few more to come. It was bad.”

“How bad is bad?”

“Two surgeries and you were on a ventilator for three days. The doctors told us to prepare for the worst. I mean, what were you thinking? You had an infected wound and a fever and you didn’t think to tell me? You could’ve died,” Owen’s voice broke. “I came so close to losing you. Again.”

“I didn’t realise anything was wrong until this morning, I swear,” TK said, stumbling over his words in his haste to get them out. It wasn’t until Carlos winced that he realised: That wasn’t this morning.

Because comas are things and they suck. TK was getting really tired of not having a grasp on time. And he was really sick of seeing what it did to the people he loved.

“When are you going to finally realize that you’re worth taking care of too?” Carlos’ voice was small, his words filled with fear and what-if’s that fizzled out any argument TK could ever think of. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, any of you.”

“It’s okay.” Carlos took TK’s hand in his and held it like it was the only thing keeping him from falling apart. “We’re just glad you’re okay.”

Carlos was in his civvies, a welcome change to what Owen said he’d been wearing the last time he’d visited TK in the hospital. Straight off the back of a shift, still wearing his uniform and holding TK as everyone waited for him to wake up. That was all it took for TK’s brain to tick back to their date, it seemed like yesterday but also a lifetime ago. He guessed it was kind of both. “How’s the promotion? Did you get it?”

“TK, you just woke up, give me some time to adjust before you ask me about work,” Carlos sighed, running his free hand through his hair. “Work has been the furthest thing from my mind.”

“But I wanna know what’s going on in the world of Carlos Reyes.” TK pouted. He kind of felt bad for using Carlos’ emotional state to deflect the attention from himself, but he deserved a follow-up to their conversation about the potential of _Detective Reyes._

Carlos rolled his eyes, pulling TK’s hand up to press a kiss to his knuckles. “The world of Carlos Reyes revolves around you, darling. I haven’t been in to work much lately.”

“What? Why not?”

“TK… You were in a coma. I wasn’t going to leave your side.”

“It’s true,” Owen chimed from outside their bubble. TK had almost completely forgotten that there were people in the world that weren’t him or Carlos. “The nurses threatened to beat him with a broom because he was always in their way.”

TK’s heart melted. “You didn’t have to do that for me.”

“I’d do it a million times over if it meant you would be okay.” Carlos’ eyes bore holes through TK’s soul as Carlos looked up at him, raising a hand to trail his fingers down from TK’s eyebrow and along his jaw, admiring him like he was a piece of fine art. “I was so scared, Ty.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. As long as you’re safe, I’m okay.”

TK couldn’t live with any distance between them anymore, he wasn’t strong enough to just lie there. So he wriggled across the narrow hospital bed, cringing a little as it creaked. He gave the other side of the bed a few short pats. 

“Get in.”

Carlos eyed him warily. “I don’t know… I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Get in the bed or I’m climbing into your lap.”

“You’re going to have to listen to him before he does something stupid. Just be careful, both of you,” Owen said, smiling a little at the sight. TK could see the weight that had been lifted from his dad’s shoulders upon seeing that TK was okay.

Carlos’ plan of carefully sitting on the edge of bed was short-lived as TK yanked him by the edge of his shirt until the officer was half in the bed, and half falling out of it. 

“I want cuddles.”

“You were a lot less demanding when you were asleep,” Carlos huffed as he finally managed to slot himself in place next to his boyfriend. 

“Shut up, you love it.”

“By the way,” Carlos mumbled into his hair, TK could hear the smile in his voice, “It’s Detective Reyes to you.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” TK asked, lightly shoving Carlos’ shoulder. “I’m proud of you.”

They were going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> title: motionless in white - hourglass
> 
> [tumblr ](https://terramous.tumblr.com/)


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